As the calendar pages turn throughout the year, hearts look forward with anticipation to the last two months of the year. November brings memories of family gathered around the table, sharing the Thanksgiving Day feast. December ushers in the joy of the Christmas season and the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child. These months bring with them a hope and expectation that with the changing of the calendar page, the joy of the holiday season will overwhelm and overtake us, overshadowing us with its presence.
For the residents at Redeeming Life Maternity Home, the experiences and expectations of the holiday season are wide and varied, just as the cultures and backgrounds of the women themselves. Each one brings with them memories, both good and bad, of holiday seasons gone by.
As the calendar page is turned to reveal the days of November, the hearts of the leaders begin a concerted effort to instill into the ladies a hope and expectation that goes beyond the turkey and the pumpkin pie – they want to deliver the hope and expectation that is born of the One who makes all of our lives possible. During the month of November, much time is spent during devotions reflecting on and recounting the ways the Lord has blessed each of us individually and corporately. Each resident is given a chance to share specific ways the Lord has touched and blessed the lives of both her and her baby throughout the year.
With Thanksgiving Day approaching, the residents and staff meet to carefully plan the menu for the Thanksgiving Day meal. Because of the variety of previous Thanksgiving Day meal experiences, each resident receives the opportunity to prepare a dish of their own design to add to the menu. The joy of sharing a piece of their Thanksgiving Day tradition with the others gives the women a true sense of ownership in the preparation of the meal. Though it may or may not look like a traditional Thanksgiving Day spread, each person comes away with a sense of pride in knowing that they contributed their best to the meal.
When the day finally arrives, and the meal is set on the table, we retreat from the hustle and bustle of the day, and turn our hearts and our minds in prayer to the One who chose to give us life. We thank Him, not only for His provision of the food set before us, but for who He is and all that He has done for each one of us.
During this Thanksgiving season, we at Redeeming Life have so much to be thankful for. We thank God for you and everyone who remembers us in their daily prayers. We thank God for each compassionate donor that gives sacrificially to this ministry to be sure that pregnant, single moms and their babies continue to have a safe place to call home. We thank God for every life we have the opportunity to touch…each single mother that chose to give life to the unplanned, unexpected child growing within her womb. Lastly, we thank God for keeping Redeeming Life Maternity Home and all connected with it safely in the Palm of His Hand, and for guiding us with His precious Holy Spirit down the paths that He would have us walk.
God bless each and every one of you and from our home to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.
Redeeming Life is a Christ-centered maternity home that provides a stable environment for single women with unplanned pregnancies. Our structured program provides mentoring, counseling and life skills education to help them become independent and provide for their children as single mothers.
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